DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE – TOWARDS A NEW DISCOURSE

Rivka E. Oxman Ruth Rotenstreich Faculty of Architecture and T.P Faculty of Architecture and T.P Technion, Haifa, Israel Technion, Haifa, Israel 32000 32000 [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract Discourse in digital architecture has begun to occupy new design concepts related to digital design. Design concepts are now becoming integrated into the general architectural discourse. This research investigated this process, the emergence, migration, and crystallization of a new conceptual content under the influence of digital design. In order to demonstrate this shift, significant projects were selected to represent features of the expression that reflects the changes and evolution of conceptual content that underlie digital design. This analysis was accomplished employing the ICF analytical framework. Our findings demonstrate the change in the conceptual structure in digital architecture. Certain expressions that are related to digital technology have moved up from a low level descriptive level to a significant conceptual role in formulating current ideational content. The methodology findings and the contribution to the definition of the conceptual content of contemporary discourse in digital architecture are described and presented in this paper.

1. Introduction Beyond the exploitation of digital media and the employment of new methods and tools has the design The evolution of digital design as a unique field process been changed? of design endeavor, motivated by its own body of Are the relations between digital design and digital theoretical sources, promulgated by a culture of thinking creating a new ideational resource for design? discourse, is currently supported by new technologies. And if so, can we investigate and identify new conceptual Among the significance of digital design for the design content that may explain these unique changes? theoretical community is the way that this form of highly The following research reports on the investigation of mediated design is beginning to evolve unique design these changes. We are interested to trace the emergence, methodologies and unique models of design interaction dynamic migration, and crystallization of a new with digital design media. It is this emphasis upon conceptual structure developed under the influence understanding the influence upon design methodology of digital design. The research presented in this paper (Oxman, 2004) that characterizes much of the research examines the emergence of new ideas over the last in digital design and its contributions to this rapidly decade. In the following section we present a brief evolving field. Furthermore, digital design discourse introduction to the set of phenomena that characterize in the past decade has become part of the dominant the emergence of a digital design discourse in the field. theoretical discourse of architecture today. Concepts whose theoretical source is in digital design have begun 2. Discourse in digital architecture to occupy a central role in current architectural discourse. As a result of this intellectual phenomenon, architecture The evolution of digital design as a unique field motivated as a design discipline has became rich in ideas that drive by its own body of theoretical sources and supported the design process as well as changing ideas that serve by new technologies has been emerging rapidly in as ideational content of the architectural artifact itself. the last decade. To some extent these new directions As a result, we are able to define new paradigmatic can are already presented in design practice. By the approaches in architectural design that are based on the year 2003 and with the Non-Standard Architectures cultural impact of digital technology. Exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris (Migayrou, In response to current situation some Issues are raised: 2002) the concept of the digital design had become a

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major theoretical focus of this new phenomenon. The general, the way conceptual knowledge is organized rise of a theoretical discourse refl ecting the increasing is as important as the amount of knowledge one has. importance of this fi eld became a seminal issue in the This view emphasizes the notion of structure. One’s 1990's (Spybroek, 1999; Spybroek and Lootsma, 1997; conceptual structures, or the structure by which one van Berkel and Bos, 1999; Lynn, 1999; Eisenman, 1992; organizes his knowledge of the world, is not something Goulthorpe, 2003; Goulthrope, 2004). During this period, of which we are naturally aware. Language is a case the theoretical discourse around developments in digital of the natural structural organization characteristic of design culture became one of the substantive infl uences human thinking is an important source of evidence in the upon design theory. investigation of conceptual structure. One of our main The works of the last decade, the public events of resources for the acquisition of knowledge is through conferences, competitions and exhibitions, and the written texts and graphical illustrations, forms in which design production served as catalysts during this period knowledge is conceptualized and organized in design. to formulate the theoretical discourse of digital design. In Conceptual abstractions derived from any signifi cant architecture, the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao by Frank project are those which bridge between the conceptual Gehry (1992-1997) was the most prominent catalyst of and the physical and thus provide the basis for exploiting theorizing new formal directions and postulating new the conceptual knowledge of design thinking. In our design methods. approach, the acquisition and the construction of the The aim of this research is to investigate and identify the body of concepts from these projects were considered conceptual changes in architectural discourse in relation as means to demonstrate and facilitate meaningful to the increased signifi cance of digital technology. In the learning. following section we present the ICF methodology and Employing the ICF methodology its contribution to the defi nition of the conceptual content The ICF methodological framework (Oxman, 1994) of the contemporary discourse in digital architecture. was employed as a method in our conceptual analysis. It proposes that by constructing a conceptual structure 3. Methodology that refl ects one’s thinking in a specifi c domain, we The research presented in this paper is based on conceptual can make explicit the knowledge of this domain. The analysis and exploits the ICF framework (Oxman, 1994; representations of concepts and their relationships to 2003). In order to defi ne conceptual structures in digital other concepts are structured and fi lled with the content architecture we conducted an analysis of textual material of the specifi c design domain, or design task. These related to projects that were built during the last decade. concepts and structures are analyzed according to the The textual material is related to these projects that following three categories: design issues, design concepts were considered to be leading and signifi cant in digital and design forms (I-C-F). The ICF methodology has architecture. The aim of the analysis was to trace how been applied to various analytical tasks; among these the relationship of general conceptual content to digital it has been exploited for organizing and representing design has changed its structure and meaning during conceptual maps in architecture (Oxman, 2003). In this this period. This analysis was accomplished employing research we use the ICF methodology for understanding the ICF analytical framework. The ICF methodology is current conceptual maps related to the fi eld of digital briefl y presented below. architecture. Conceptual knowledge Selection of relevant projects By classifying textual material, we were attempting to We have selected a group of projects which were among identify conceptual structures in digital architecture. In those recognized as having a strong impact upon, and

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contribution to, architectural discourse during the last “A spatial and formal experience that is decade. This is a period of certain important projects dynamic rather than merely useful that and, a period in which interest and application of announces to all who enter that this is a digital design increased dramatically. Representative place for experiment, a place to leave behind architectural building types that are strongly and directly assumptions and conventions, a place that lays influenced by the conceptual content of the cultural us open to the surprises and challenges that discourse in architecture were selected to reflect the are necessarily presented by new art… The changes and evolution of conceptual structures that constant alternation of enclosure and void, underlie digital design. the shifts of angle and level, the cutaways that Among those projects that were selected are the following: reveal unexpected vistas and the opening in Wexner Center for Visual Art by Peter Eisenman (1989); the fifth-floor member’s room that reconnect Carré d�Art by Norman Foster (1993); Milwaukee you with the city, all contribute to a feeling of Art Museum, by Santiago Calatrava (1994); Groninger exhilaration few art museums can match.” Museum by Coop Himmelblau (1994), Guggenheim Ambient Amplifiers, Oslo / Ocean North Museum, Bilbao by Frank O. Gehry (1997); Salt- (http://www.ocean-north.net/architecture/amplifiers) Water Pavillion by Kas Oosterhuis (1997); Hel Volkhof Museum by UN Studio (2000); Ambient Amplifiers “The computer is used as an engine to Oslo by Ocean North (2000) Contemporary Art Museum produce dynamic generative diagrams which “CAC by Zaha Hadid (2003); and the Art Museum in serve to address the mentioned aspects. The Graz by Cook and Fournier (2004) and more. Relevant dynamic generative diagrams always feeds on textual material was collected and gathered for further contextual matter, but it deforms the fields of analysis. forms and forces in a topological animation, which produces series of intermediate 3.1. ICF content analysis steps, articulating and forming both spatial Employing the ICF methodology we undertook a first step and temporal thresholds. The use of such in our ICF Content Analysis (Oxman and Rotenstreich, techniques implies the introduction of an 2005). Textual expressions that were found meaningful “untamed” set of information. The reason in this domain related to “Issues”; “Concepts” and to do this is to resist the obvious “designed” “Forms” were identified. solution, which would only engage in a fixed For example, we could identify expressions that were scenario. The dynamic generative diagram is found as expressing different meanings in different used as negotiation engines towards context as texts. For example, the term “dynamic” in the work of well as resistance buffers against fixed design Contemporary Art Museum, Cincinnati designed by Zaha schemata.” Hadid is describing a spatial and formal experience, while the same term “dynamic” in the work of Ocean 3.2. Thematic analysis and new North is related to a diagram employed as an enabling categorization tool to get beyond a fixed scenario and design schemata. In the thematic analysis, additional stages of analysis This was considered as a higher level thematic content and conceptual categorization were made. On the basis in our research. of this analysis of textual expressions new categories Contemporary Art Museum, Cincinnati / Zaha Hadid have emerged. For example, significant terms such (Webb. M, out of the box, Architectural Review vol.214 as: “dynamic” “interactive” “responsive”, “adaptive”, no.1277, July 2003 p.28-65) “hybrid” “animated”, etc., were classified as new

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categories. A new organization and classifi cation was research assisted in demonstrating the following fi ndings. made. The focus here was on looking at the relative We have identifi ed new meaning for concepts that are classifi cation of selected terms within the text. In other associated with digital technology such as “dynamic”, words, the focus of this type of analysis was to look “animated”, “interactive” “responsive”, “adaptive”, for the thematic quality of the term. This way we could “hybrid” etc. and new usage of terminology and identify expressions that were found as expressing conceptual structures in digital design projects. Design different meanings in different projects. Some of low- concepts have emerged as the architectural content of lever expressions in one example were considered as what is defi ned today as digital architecture. Due to the higher level expressions in another, representing the ICF method we were able to demonstrate how selected thematic content of digital architecture. terms within texts, had changed their meanings from being employed as descriptive content of architectural 3.3. Chronological analysis production to terms that represent the paradigmatic The ICF hierarchical structure was classifi ed to content itself. Another signifi cant fi nding was that the following levels: low level (e.g., describing technical change of meaning of the same expressions was due to means for modeling and representation); a conceptual- a chronological shift in understanding the conceptual generative level; and a conceptual-thematic level. Digital content of digital architecture. expressions in this data-base were analyzed according The ICF method appears to provide a powerful method to to their classifi ed location in the hierarchies of the ICF study the evolutionary properties and emphasis in current structure. The role of this analysis was to determine theoretical and critical formulations in the architectural the different meanings that emerged as a result of this discourse. Thus it appears to be a means to represent classifi ed location in the ICF structure. signifi cant conceptual formations in domain discourse as well as to study and represent that elusive form of 4. Findings intellectual change that we might term, the dynamics of discourse. Our fi ndings have demonstrated that certain expressions related to digital technology have moved up from a low- References level descriptive function, such as the technical means for modeling and representation, to a signifi cant conceptual Eisenman P, 1992. Visions unfolding: Architecture in the age role in formulating the design content of the project. This of electronic media, Domus (734), pp. 17-21 type of fi nding was implicit in the text itself. For example, Goulthorpe M, 2003. Scott points: exploring principles of the term “dynamic” appears as a concept in architectural digital creativity, in B. Kolarevic (ed.), Architecture in the projects designed by Zaha Hadid, Himmelblau, etc. Digital Age, Spon Press It later appears as a new design issue related to the Goulthrope M, 2004. Digital latency: evolution and impurity conceptual and theoretical understanding of designing in in the digital design work of dECOi architects, in R.Oxman digital design works such as those designed by Ocean (ed.), A DCC’04 Workshop on Cognitive and Computational North. Such transformations of meanings were clearly Models of Design Thinking, MIT. Mass, USA demonstrated by our ICF method. Lynn G, 1999. Animate Form, Princeton Architectural Press, N.Y. 5. Summary and conclusions Migayrou F, 2002. Non-Standard Architecture, Centre An approach to the analysis of conceptual content in Pompidou, Paris digital design was accomplished employing the ICF Oxman R, 1994. Precedents in design: a computational model framework in the domain of digital architecture. Our for the organization of precedent knowledge, Design Studies, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 141-157. 91

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Oxman R, 2003. Think-Maps: teaching design thinking in design education, Design Studies, 25 (1) pp 63-91 Oxman R, 2004. Theoretical foundations of digital architecture, Keynote, SIGRADI 2004, the 8th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital, Poerto Alegre, Brazil Oxman R., and R. Rotenstreich, 2005. Conceptual content of design paradigms in digital architecture Proceedings of ECAADE, Portugal, Spain Spybroek L, 1999. NOX, The Motorization of Reality, A+U No. 349 Spybroek L. and Lootsma B, 1997. NOX – Aquatic Pavilion and Interactive Installation, Neeltie Jans Holland, Domus, No. 349 Van Berkel B. and Bos C, 1999. Move – UN Studio, Goose Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Prof. Dr. Arch. Rivka Oxman B.A. in Architecture and Town Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology M.Sc. in Architecture and Town Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology D.Sc. in Architecture and Town Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Areas of interest:Digital Design, Digital Architecture, Virtual Architecture, Knowledge-based design, Case- based Design, Precedent-based design, Generative Design, Innovation and Creativity, Design Emergence, Digital Design Education

Arch. Ruth Rotenstreich B.A. in Architecture and Town Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Currently an M.Sc. Student in Architecture and Town Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Areas of interest:Digital Architecture, Precedent based design, Architectural design

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